Vacation Homes

Simple elegance, by design

Old-world style, cutting-edge technology meet in family home

What would Freud make of the Silverstone home, with all its understated elegance, hidden technology and subterranean man cave?

Aha! Man cave.

A cave is one of Freud's archetypal dream symbols. What do you say about that, Dr. Peter Silverstone?

Truth is, the good doc-tor doesn't have much to say about it. Though Silverstone is a shrink, he's not much into Freud.

Meaning that Freud is one of the few things the Oxford-educated Silverstone isn't into these days.

The noted psychiatrist is an academic, researcher and clinician.

He writes books on energy issues. He organizes conferences, does consultation for a number of local organizations and is the incoming chairman of the Edmonton Economic Development Corp.

Meanwhile, he and wife Mil-lie are busy parents to two teenage daughters, Olivia and Jenna.

The couple also like to entertain friends in their fabulous new home, which Silver-stone helped design.

Millie stayed out of the planning, knowing the design details were her husband's passion, not hers.

He says there were a few things he insisted on with Element Construction, which made this gorgeous home a reality.

Silverstone wanted a juxtaposition of Old World and New - of stone, wood and metal - as well as a feeling of simple elegance.

Thus the clean lines on ac-cent woods, the neutral colours, high ceilings and large windows.

Silverstone also wanted the home to face north, not south. He loves light spilling through the house into the kitchen, dining room and home offices. But his theory is that diffused light in summer is more enjoyable than harsh, blinding sun.

The four-bedroom suburban home, 20 minutes southwest of the University of Alberta, is 4,400 square feet. The top floor hosts bedrooms and offices for both husband and wife.

The best design feature, according to Silverstone, is the ensuite bathrooms off his daughters' individual bedrooms.

"No arguments and no asking them to clean up," he says. "It's their own space."

The main floor is home to a majestic kitchen - with its shuffleboard-table-sized island - as well as a family room, dining room and formal drawing room.

Ironically, the Silverstones' plan going in was to downsize from their previous home. But after buying the property they were told of the area's architectural guidelines, which demand the home occupy 90 per cent of the lot.

Once the home was designed and under construction, the couple then thought they'd put it up for sale.

The market dropped, though. And so in they moved. Now they're feeling more and more comfortable with the home and its sumptuous spaces and hightech amenities.

Silverstone grew up in London and suffered a number of home break-ins. Thus, this new house comes complete with metal roll shutters that open and close electronically to cover the basement windows and doors. There's also a security system and cameras wired into touch-screen panels.

Stereo speakers are wired in, too. Security, stereo and televisions can be controlled from wall touch screens, iPads or smartphones. All this technology was done locally, by the firm One Smart Home.

The walkout basement is Silverstone's favourite spot. On tiptoes you can still see downtown from the basement's curtain-wall windows. Or walk out into a backyard adjacent to a neighbourhood pond.

The basement features a barcum-kitchen, complete with stove, refrigerator, rainbow-tiled backsplash, cooking gadgets and watch-while-cooking, wall-mount television. This is the man cave.

Silverstone is an epicure who dabbles in gourmet cooking. He claims it's not really a hobby, nor that he is adept. He just loves escaping into a cooking project when the couple entertains.

And he's discovered over the years - what married couple hasn't? - that working elbow to elbow with one's spouse in the same kitchen can cause, well, friction.

Thus, he designed his own downstairs kitchen space to chop, dice, spill, slop, smash and clean up, well, whenever.

"This is the room I love," he says, smiling.

Me: "Great rumpus room." Silverstone: "Don't call it a rumpus room."

Right, then. The lower family room also houses a pool table, foosball table, big-screen TV, large comfy couches and those big-window views to the north and downtown.

Silverstone interjects to say that he was rather good at foosball in his youth. He even played the U.K. champion and held his own.

He suggests a game and smiles a bit wolfishly at the hapless journalist with the rumpus-room vocabulary.

I look at my watch. I silently calculate the odds. He's an Oxford-trained psychiatrist, community leader, published author and highly sought lecturer. He's good at foosball.

I ride a scooter and suck at sports, including foosball. I look at my watch. Gotta run, I say.

Freud might say that's a bit childish and neurotic.

I walk out mumbling. Rumpus room. Rumpus room. Rumpus room.

Know someone with an interesting or beautiful living space? Email Scott at Scott@ScottMcKeen.ca

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